100 Themes
by Catching Rain
Summary: A challenge from a friend on deviantArt. 100 themes, 100 one-shots. Are you willing to hop on the bandwagon?
1. Introductions

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Author's Rant: So, here we are... embarking on a hundred chapter journey known as the 100 themes challenge! (fireworks blow up in the air) My friend on deviantART challenged me, and since I can't draw worth a smelly crap, I thought I'd write this instead. Hey, it gets the job done. For this challenge, I'll be using Adventure 02 and possibly Frontier from time to time, as well. Well, I've blabbered enough. Hop on the bandwagon with me and enjoy!

JUST SO YOU KNOW: The themes will NOT be in chronological order. So they could be in college one chapter and old cronies the next (not that I intend on writing them as old cronies... hahaha). I guess you could call this a collection of random drabbles.

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**Introductions**

I sighed as the professor walked into the classroom, her wild hair frazzled and papers falling out of her bag. When I signed up for this psychology course, I hadn't known that our teacher was psychotic! In a way, she kind of reminded me of Jyou - always running late, like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. I heard snickers from higher up in the room (we were in a lecture hall, so the set-up was kind of like an auditorium), and someone snorted into their coffee upon sight of her, spraying the helpless girl in from of him with scorching liquid. Despite the large size of the room, there were only about twenty of us, at most.

_They're all a bunch of idiots..._ I thought. _Why couldn't I have just gone to Odaiba University with everyone else? Why did my mother insist that I come with her to America?_ Even though in America I was considered of age, back home the child was under the care of the parent until they turned 20, so even if I had stayed to attend college there, I wouldn't have had anywhere to stay. Onii-chan and Dad would have taken me in if they could, but as it were, there was no more room for another bed, and the rule of the apartment complex was if there weren't enough beds, then that was just too bad. I sighed again. _So what if I can still see everyone in the Digital World? This place is a hell-hole!_

When the professor had finally pulled herself together, she turned to the room in general and smiled. "Welcome, class, to the wonderful world of psychology! Since our class is so small, I'd like to start by getting to know each other better. I would like for you to introduce yourself, by stating your name, your age, where you come from, and something about you that others wouldn't know." The cheerfulness in her voice was laid on so thick that it was sickening. I rested my head in the palm of my hand - I could feel a headache coming on. It was only a matter of time. "Any volunteers to start us off? No? Well, then, young lady in the front, why don't you go ahead?"

A timid looking, dark haired girl looked up, and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Umm... my name is Claire Blackwood. I'm nineteen, I'm from Kalamazoo, Missouri and I'm majoring in law?" The way the girl answered sounded more like a question than an answer. A pair of boys in the back of the room erupted in laughter.

"Law? You couldn't argue yourself into a guy's pants!" he chortled. It was quite obvious that he was under the influence of... _something_, and I guessed that he was probably either drunk or smoking pot. Most likely both.

"If you're so clever, why don't you introduce yourself, piss-breath?" another girl snapped. She was donned all in black and decked out in spikes, and looked ready to kill. I made a mental note not to ever make her mad.

"Sure, honey, anything for you! The name's Johnny D'Angelo, 21, from sweet home Alabama, and I'd really like to get some of that licorice!" Johnny's buddy honked in laughter, and the scary chick just rolled her eyes with a disgusted look on her face. By now I was _really_ close to just getting up, walking out and getting on the next flight to Narita Airport. I was self-reliant enough; I could figure out things when I got there. The introductions went on, and I did my best to ignore them, until the professor called on me.

"It looks like you're the only one left!" she stated, which was obvious. Nothing was more annoying than stating the obvious. "Go ahead, you've got the floor."

With a forced sigh, I stood, and earned a couple of weird glances from my classmates. Apparantly none of them had stood for their introductions, and I was cursing my habit from Japanese schooling. "I'm Takaishi Takeru. I'm eighteen years old, from Odaiba, Japan and I really wish I weren't here right now." With that, I slumped in my seat. The two idiots in the back, Johnny and his goon, howled in laughter, and even the teacher seemed... interested, that I wasn't American.

"Oh, an international student? I haven't had one this year; you're the first, Takaishi, congratulations!" She giggled. "But, your name is kind of long... can I call you Taka for short?"

I felt a vein throb in my temple as the blood rushed to my face. I'd slipped up in my English and said my first name last - something that was always so perplexing to Americans for no reason. "My name is Takeru," I said through gritted teeth.

"But you just said--"

"My family name is Takaishi. My given name is Takeru. In Japanese, we say our family name first because it is respectful to our ancestors." I hadn't realized that I was this irritated - but I guess I'd never had to explain my name to anyone before. What the hell was so confusing about it? But Johnny's little friend wouldn't let it go.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we're in America, dumbass! Learn to speak English! Or is it too hard to rearn? 'We say our famiry name first because it is respectfur to our ancestors!'" he mocked. "So much for the geniuses of the world!" That was it. I shouldered my backpack and turned my back to the teacher. On the way out, I turned and socked both Johnny and his friend as hard as I could, and smirked.

"It doesn't take a genius to know how to fight," I sneered. And then I was on my way back to my mom's apartment, ready to chew her out and retreat to the Digital World for some time to cool off. _Just _wait _'till the others hear about this..._ I slammed the classroom doors so hard that the window on it cracked a little.

The professor just turned and looked at meek little Claire at the front of the room. "Was it something I said?"

END

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A/N: Annnnnnd there you have it, folks. Chapter one is done. I don't like it too much, because it's kind of a boring theme. Once I get the ball rolling, there are some interesting themes on down the list, but the first couple are really lame and generic, so you'll have to bear with me. Until next time, ja ne!

PS. When thinking of the professor in this drabble, think of Professor Trelawny from the Harry Potter movies! :P


	2. Love

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Digimon.

A/N: Many thanks to **Potgenie**, **PrincessJaded**, **Down Here We Belong**, and **Aster Selene** for their awesome reviews! Cyber cookies for everyone! Oh, and a happy belated birthday to PrincessJaded! (bangs head against the wall for forgetting) So, consider this chapter a belated birthday gift, Diane! I know, it's really short, but I wanted to get _something_ up. XD This'll probably be posted with the next one as a double post to make up for the absence.

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**Love**

The Izumi household shook with the force of the door that was slammed as the eldest (and only) son, Koushirou, stormed into the building. Luckily for him, both of his parents were working, and therefore not there to hear the slamming door. It almost puts one in the mind of that old riddle, "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Koushirou kicked his shoes off in the doorway and marched right into his bedroom, throwing his school bag on the bed and regretfully whacking poor Tentomon.

"Ow, ow, ow! Koushirou-han, what was that for?" Tentomon whined, nursing the spot on his head where the bag had hit him.

"Sorry, Tentomon," Koushirou growled, not sounding apologetic at all. "Had a bad day." He forcefully plopped down into the swivel chair at his computer desk and practically slammed his finger on the power button to his desktop. If Tentomon had had any boots, he would have been quivering in them.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what happened..." the insectoid muttered. Koushirou whirled around in the chair to face Tentomon, his eyes flaring with an anger that Tentomon had never thought Koushirou capable of.

"Just when I thought I could finally trust people other than the other Chosen, they do something stupid and prove me wrong!"

"Koushirou-han, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. After all, _you're_ the genius, not me," Tentomon said, waving his arms (if you can even call them arms) to emphasize his point. The redhead sighed.

"You know how I just got a girlfriend a couple of weeks ago, right?" Tentomon nodded to show he understood this much. "Well, it turns out she was only dating me to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. After all, there's no better way to piss off the star gridiron* player by dating the geekiest guy in school. The egomaniac tried to corner me outside of class, and threatened to beat me to a pulp if I didn't dump her."

Tentomon stared. He'd never realized that humans could be so... _possessive_. "Well, what'd you say?"

"I told him to lay off - that he'd already had his chance with her and he should get over himself. He got mad, but a teacher came and broke it up. I could've handled it myself, too..." he muttered as an afterthought. "But Masuyo-chan... no, Takahata-san, asked me what the hell I was thinking, trying to take him on. She dumped me faster than I could say anything." The anger was back, and he swiveled back to the keyboard and his fingers typed furiously on the keys.

Tentomon watched the screen flicker between windows and saw characters being typed in faster than he could read them, although he thought he saw the main domain page to the school website. "Koushirou-han...!" he said, shocked. "You're not going to change their grades, are you?" And Tentomon knew that Koushirou was perfectly capable of doing it, too - he'd shown him once how easy it was.

Koushirou snorted. "Even if I did, it's not like I'd do much damage there. No, I'm hacking into the yearbook's archives, and I'm going to photoshop 'the shell' onto every one of Takahata-san's pictures... that'll teach her to mess with me." Tentomon facefaulted - he knew all too well what the shell was, and even though he felt bad for Iori whenever someone mentioned it, he couldn't help but snicker. So he went to the kitchen and made some popcorn, and then he returned to his spot on the bed and watched Koushirou work his computer magic.

Several hours later, Koushirou sat back in his chair, looking quite pleased with himself. He typed in a few more things to cover his tracks, and deleted all of the original pictures from the archives, leaving only the edited ones left. Tentomon had fallen asleep a long time ago, and his parents had popped in once or twice to check up on him. He dismissed them easily with the excuse of doing homework. Turning off the moniter, Koushirou smirked.

"Love... ha. Who needs it?"

END.

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*Gridiron, for those of you who don't know, is the international term for American football. It's hardly ever used in the States to refer to the game, but it is common to hear the field being called a gridiron.


	3. Loathing

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Okay, okay, I know I promised a double update, but the two themes I was working with were just so damn cliched that I couldn't come up with anything good for them! I mean, "light" and "dark" are so generic it's not even funny. So I decided I'd skip them and come back to them instead of making you guys wait too much more. Heh heh heh. Enjoy the third chapter (but technically the fifth theme) of the challenge!

Oh, and thanks again to these awesome people for their reviews: **Aster Selene**, **PrincessJaded**, **LoveIt123**, **Down Here We Belong**, **Benign User**, **Potgenie**, and **SugarSpiral**.

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**Loathing**

Motomiya Daisuke hated homework.

It was a well-known fact about him - the boy seized whatever chance he could to skip out on his homework to go kick his soccer ball around, or go hang out with his friends, or just not do his assignments. Unfortunately for him, his parents were catching on to his tricks, and began to force him to stay in his room until every last question was answered, down to every last dakuten and handakuten*. They even, much to his dismay, began checking the answers, and if more than half of them were wrong, he would be marched back into his bedroom and forced to redo the entire assignment.

_Man, they're getting worse than my teachers_, he thought. _And I thought Kawada-sensei was bad!!_

And so this particular moment found him sitting at his cluttered desk, staring at a sheet of paper with a bunch of figures written on it, with several darkened areas where he had been too lazy to erase and just scribbled out the incorrect area. With a sigh, he cursed the stupid sheet of paper. Who needs algebra, anyway? What was the true-to-life purpose of replacing numbers with letters, besides just to piss him off?

To say that Daisuke hated homework was an understatement. He absolutely _loathed_ it. Especially algebra.

Giving up on the algebra, he crumpled up the paper and threw it in the general direction of the overflowing wastebasket. He scooted his rolling chair out and plopped onto his bed, squishing the unsuspecting Chibimon in the process. The tiny blue Digimon wiggled his way out from under Daisuke and gasped dramatically.

"Geez, Daisuke, what have you been eating?" Chibimon panted. "You almost killed me, you know!"

Daisuke just chuckled half-heartedly. "Sorry, buddy, I didn't see you there." He patted Chibimon on the head and started scheming a new way out of his predicament.

"Homework got you bummed?" Chibimon questioned curiously.

"Not so much bummed as annoyed to no end," Daisuke replied. "I just can't figure it out. Stupid teachers expect you to learn this stuff in the matter of three or four days and then they quiz you when you've just not had enough time to wrap your head around it! At least, that's how it is for me." Daisuke was by no means a stupid person, but when it came to mathematics, he always had had trouble getting the hang of it.

"Well, why don't you have one of the others come over and help you?" Chibimon suggested. "Maybe they'll be able to explain it better than your teachers."

Daisuke turned and gawked at the little blue creampuff. "Chibimon, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that?"

"'Cause I'm a genius."

With a laugh at his Digimon, Daisuke walked to his bedroom door and peeked his head out. "Okaa-san, can I call a friend for some help? I just don't understand this math stuff. I promise I won't goof off!"

His mother turned from her seat on the couch and eyed him suspiciously. When he was deemed innocent enough, she sighed and waved a hand. "Go ahead. But only for them to help you! If you want to hang out afterwards, you'll have to go outside. I'm trying to hear my soaps."

Daisuke punched the air in victory. He grabbed the phone from its cradle and headed back to his room. Chibimon tilted his head in confusion, but Daisuke winked to let him know that he got the okay. He resumed his seat on the bed, minding Chibimon this time, and began pondering who to call in for his aid.

Miyako was in the year ahead of him, so maybe she would know more about this stuff than he did. Then again... if he made a mistake, she'd probably take the pencil from him and do the problem herself. Not a bad option, but he wouldn't be able to convince his mother that he was the one who had done the work. Miyako was out.

Takeru was no doubt _really_ good in math, but... he and Daisuke weren't exactly the best of buds. Ever since Takeru had started dating Hikari, he'd been kind of a jerk to Daisuke, so much that even Hikari noticed. So no hope asking Takeru.

_Hikari-chan... is probably hanging out with Takeru._ Daisuke had admittedly given up on Hikari a long time ago, but for some reason he still felt the need to keep up appearances. It was probably just his pride.

Iori was two grades below him, and so _that_ wouldn't be much help. Iori was a smart boy, but even he couldn't help Daisuke with what he didn't know.

And so, that left only one person.

Damn, there was his pride again.

Without letting himself overthink, Daisuke dialed in Ken's number and waited not-so-patiently for someone to pick up the other line. He was relieved that Ken was the one to answer.

"Ichijouji residence," the former Kaiser said smoothly.

"Hey Ken, it's Daisuke. Um... I know you live in Tamachi and it's probably a hassle for me to ask you this, but could you come over and help me with my math homework?" With a bit of horror, Daisuke realized that he had said that entire phrase with one breath. He cursed himself for how stupid he probably sounded, and made a mental note to not be upset if Ken said no. To his surprise, he heard a chuckle on the other line.

"Sure, Daisuke. And really, it's not _that_ far from Tamachi to Odaiba, you know. The wonders of modern transportation, huh?" Ken said. "Anyway, I'll be over in half an hour or so."

Daisuke vaguely paid attention to the end of their conversation, and before he knew it, he was holding the reciever in his lap, the connection cut. Unconsciously, he had been fighting the heat that threatened to rush to his face and his heart that threatened to race in his chest. Now that conversation was over, he could feel his heartbeat returning to normal and the flush retreat. And then he smiled.

Maybe he didn't hate homework as much as he let on.

END.

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A/N: Oho, what is this? Is that Daiken I see? Yup, I was feeling adventurous. Nothing too out there, but just a couple hints to lighten up the mood (Benign mentioned that the last two chapters have been kind of dark. So I wanted to allieviate that a little). Anyway, one chapter note...

*Dakuten and handakuten are the little glyphs next to hiragana and katakana that convert certain characters to a different kind of character. For example, the if the dakuten were added to ka, the character would become ga. Handakuten can only be used with the 'h' characters, to make ha into pa, and so forth. The dakuten looks like a little quotation mark, and the handakuten looks like a little circle, as shown:

か to が (ka to ga)  
は to ぱ (ha to pa)


	4. Insanity

Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me.

A/N: By this point, I'm giving up on trying to go down the list in order. Thanks to **PrincessJaded**, **Potgenie**, **Down Here We Belong**, **Aster Selene**, and **SugarSpiral** for their reviews (Aana, thankies times two!). You know what they say: A review a day keeps chapters coming. XP Okay, so that didn't rhyme, but it's true. Anyway... this one is formatted a little differently, and it's supposed to be kinda crack-fic-ish. It's after midnight and I just had a huge glass of cream soda.

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**Insanity**

(cue ambient music)

_Popcorn Productions presents..._

_...a world exclusive trailer..._

**When the mountains rang with the echo of the fall of BelialVamdemon, the world rejoiced. **

_"The two worlds are saved!"_

**An era of peace was nigh. **

_"The kids... they did it. They are true heroes. Thanks to them, we can all live for tomorrow's sunrise."_

(cue dramatic music cut)

**But, a new evil lurks in the shadows cast by that new light.**

_"There have been reports of a slimy green mass wandering the streets at night. Hide your doors, lock your children... er... wait a minute."_

(cue epic/dramatic music)

**All that is good is in danger.**

_"We have to protect the city!"_

**Warriors of the light will fall.**

_"Daisuke, look out behind you!"_

_"What the _hell_ is that, the backside of a barbecued snail!?"_

_"Onii-chan, help me!"_

**The fate of the world rests once again in the hands of children.**

_"I don't know if I can handle this anymore..."_

_"Ahhh, suck it up, you big pansy."_

**Only this time... their enemy is armed with the greatest weapon of all.**

_"How do we fight this thing? We don't even know what it is yet!"_

_"That's because your eyes are closed."_

_"Oh. *opens eyes* Eeeeeeewwww..."_

**Boogers.**

_"Aaaaaaaah! It's the boogie man!"_

_"Actually, it's a Boogiemon. There _is_ a difference."_

_"What difference could there possibly be!?"_

_"One letter."_

**Courage**

_"We _will_ get them back!"_

**Friendship**

_"It's the only thing we can do. Our friends are counting on us to come through for them!"_

**Knowledge**

_"Okay, here's the plan... we'll enter here, here, and here... One party will distract him, the other will help the others, and then the last one will attack."_

**Purity**

_"Umm, I don't know about you guys, but standing near this guy makes me feel very un-pure..."_

**Honesty**

_"I honestly don't think we stand a chance against this guy unless we do something."_

_"Well, what do you suggest we do, smart guy?"_

_"I dunno, you're the one with the Crest of Knowledge!"_

**Love**

_"I'd love to hurry up find the others so we can _get out of here_!"_

**Jackie Chan**

_"Whooooooa. Hang on a cotton-pickin' minute. What's Jackie Chan doing here? We're not Chinese _or_ American!"_

**in...**

**Digimon the Movie 2: Wrath of the Boogiemon**

_"Aahh, buggeration."_

_"You mean booger-ation. Ahahaha. ...get it? Booger? ...Boogiemon?"_

_"Shut up."_

_Coming soon to a theatre near you..._

As the hastily prepared video drew to a close, and someone managed to flip the lights on, the faces of the students at their desks were priceless. All of them were wide-eyed in shock and their mouths agape (with a couple, quite embarrassed people, who all had their heads safely hidden in their arms on the desk).

The teacher was no exception. He just stared at the screen disbelievingly. In the past, he had recieved some pretty decent results when he assigned the group video project. He'd gotten some pretty impressive interviews with people of high status around town, a couple of cool-looking skits recorded. But never before had he had a group go so far off of the prompt and still come out in this quality. It was professional-grade... the monsters looked real, the photography was astonishing, and it _really_ looked like a movie trailer.

The two people in the back with their heads down warily looked up, caught the expression on the teacher's face, and exchanged a look that clearly said, "How in the world did we get ourselves into this mess...?" The only other student who didn't look shell-shocked sat in front of them, looking haughty, like a chef tasting his masterpiece. The teacher cleared his throat, and the third student student stood.

"Motomiya-kun..." the teacher started. "What, pray tell, was the prompt that your group was given?"

Daisuke grinned. "The prompt said, 'Come up with an original idea that uses an experience from your past'."

"And that prompt turned into this... how, exactly?"

Daisuke's face looked like it was going to crack from the humongous grin. "Let's just say that I'm really good at using the powers of persuasion to my advantage."

The teacher raised his eyebrow, and glanced at the two children behind Daisuke. Hikari and Takeru were shaking their heads violently, using their hands to wildly gesture that it was a _bad_ idea to get into.

"Dare I ask...?" he ventured.

Daisuke opened his mouth, but Takeru babbled into speech and Hikari slapped a hand on Daisuke's mouth to shut him up. "Listen, Daisuke plus accidentally-bought rum eggnog at the Christmas party last year plus a camcorder equals a situation Hikari and I would rather not relive. Or anyone else in that trailer, for that matter. Blackmail is not a pretty thing. Leave it at that."

The teacher (and the rest of the class) stared at the trio for the longest time. After a while, Daisuke managed to mumble that he swore he wouldn't say anything else before Hikari would release him, and they settled down. The next group put their video on, and the day went on as normal.

At the end of the day, the teacher was sitting at his desk, writing grades down on the group rubrics for the video projects. When he came across Daisuke, Takeru, and Hikari's paper, he was reminded of the events earlier, and he facepalmed.

"It's a wonder I haven't gone insane from this job..." he muttered, before marking a big red 'A' on the top of the paper, purely to keep another situation like that from happening ever again.

END.

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A/N: So, hopefully my stupid crack-fic chapter made you laugh at one point or another. And just so you know, 'buggeration' is not my word. I just thought I'd add a disclaimer. XD If you're wondering how in the hell Daisuke managed to persuade the others into filming this video, I was thinking of something along the lines of Daisuke accidentally buying rum eggnog, and then everyone gets drunk and does stupid stuff, and he has the sense enough to record it all for blackmail. He knew it would come in handy one day. Ahahaha. I'm actually considering making that trailer an actual fic later on down the road... what do you think? Anyway, please review!

(P.S. was I the only one who was completely surprised to find out that Jackie Chan sings!?)


	5. Precious

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Holy crap, I got a lot of reviews this last time. I guess crack-fics are pretty popular? Anyway, many thanks to **PrincessJaded**, **ARCtheElite**, **Potgenie**, **Aster Selene**, **Down Here We Belong**, **pyrorynox**, **BenignUser**, **roxas24**, and **SugarSpiral** for all of their reviews! An unprecendented 13 reviews! I think I might die... XD Anyway, please enjoy!

EDIT: I fixed a typo that Potgenie pointed out. Thanks a bundle, Potgenie!

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**Precious**

It never occured to me that things could change so drastically in the blink of an eye. And as my world turned upside down, you would think that a lot of things would run through my head. The things that I'd never had the chance to do, the things that I'd left unfinished, the ones I'd be leaving behind. But they didn't. Instead, I felt a great wave of calmness, despite the chaos around me.

All because of the one question that she had asked me.

_"Yamato-san, can I ask you something?"_

_"Sure, ask away."_

_"If you knew that you were going to die, and you could die any way you chose, what would you do?"_

_"...where did that come from?"_

_"Just answer the question, silly."_

_"Well, I suppose that I'd rather it be quick and painless. I wouldn't like to suffer for a long time."_

_"Oh, I see."_

_"What about you?"_

_"Honestly... I couldn't care less about _how_ I die, so long as I'm not alone."_

_"You'd want someone to die with you?"_

_"No, no! I just meant, I wouldn't want to be alone when I die."_

_"I see."_

_"Sorry to give you such a morbid thought. It's just that... well, I had a dream the other night. I remember being cold and tired and hungry. It was like I would just drop dead at any time... but most of all, I was alone. And it was like that the entire time, until I woke up. So it got me thinking... that I'd like nothing more than to die with my most precious person right there beside me. Because it wouldn't be so bad if their face was the last thing I saw."_

_"I hadn't thought of it that way before. It makes sense."_

_"Thanks so much for listening to me ramble. It really means a lot."_

She had asked me that a long time ago, way back when we first became friends. I thought that it was a little strange that a kid like her had a train of thought that deep. But now I know that her question wasn't strange at all, but rather it was wise. And over the years, I began to see how much her wisdom meant to me as we grew closer and closer. Now, I realize that her company is what is giving me the sense of calm that I feel right now, as we sit on this doomed airplane on a crash course with the sea, because she was absloutely right.

It wouldn't be so bad to die with my most precious person right there beside me. Because the afterlife wouldn't prove to be as scary with her light guiding me there.

END.

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A/N: So I hinted at Yakari toward the end, but it was supposed to be pretty ambiguous... And it's extremely short. D: I thought of it when I was sitting in the theatre at 3 o'clock this morning waiting for the new Harry Potter movie to start and I saw a trailer for the movie "2012." Anyway, I'll have another one up sometime soon. Please review!

(Oh, and btw, the Harry Potter movie was absolutely amazing.)


	6. Mirror

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: I know, I know, I just updated, like, two days ago. But band camp starts next week, so I won't have much time on the computer without being completely exhausted, and I wanted to get another chapter or two up before I'm completely dead. So... thanks to **Down Here We Belong**, **PrincessJaded**, **pyrorynox**, **Aster Selene**, **BenignUser**, **roxas24**, **Jillie062**, **Potgenie**, **ARCtheElite**, and **Oo-Violetmoon-oO** for reviewing! Enjoy the sixth theme (actually, it's technically the 75th theme, but you get the drift).

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**Mirror**

A killer lurks about a park on a sunny afternoon. He spies two young girls playing in the sandbox, both clad in white dresses and wearing their hair in a french braid down the back of their heads. Both wear immaculate smiles on their face as they innocently build castles fit for the princesses they are. It isn't difficult to lure them away - a lost puppy, a promise of candy while their parents look away for but a minute. They come easily enough. They are fun to play with, at first. But they are oh, so predictable. One is a mirror image of the other. So he tires of them quickly. A smile creeps to his face. It wouldn't do to have them running to their mommies. So he has them prepare for one final dance...

A detective stands in the park the next day, his tears disguised by the pouring rain. On the job for fifteen years, cases don't usually get to him this bad. But this one does. Two beautiful, perfect little girls. Their only crime is being naive enough to allow some cruel, wicked creature to coax them from the safety of their parents' watchful eyes. Now they lay, the smell of dead leaves and compost mingling together in the rain. Next to the bodies, a page of a children's book lay, a paragraph highlighted...

The killer smiles to himself. He is pleased with his handiwork. The press is reeling with the two girls found dead in Tamachi Park. The detective on the case appear on the television. He swears that the killer will be brought to justice. That cosmic forces will retaliate and the killer will reap what he has sewn. This statement causes him to laugh. He never believed in all that karma mumbo-jumbo, anyway.

The detective spends many sleepless nights, pouring over many things he has spread across his dining room table. Evidence logs, crime scene photos, statements from other people at the park that day... all lead to nothing. His wife comes into the room every night, pleading with him to get some sleep. Even if he lies in bed, sleep evades him. Or rather, he evades it. Because all he hears in his dreams are the lines from that excerpt from the children's book, followed by the hollow laughter of two young girls whose light had been snuffed out much too early.

The killer becomes bored with the lack of interest in his life. Killing the mirror girls was exhilarating, exciting; a stark contrast to his life as it returns to normal. He hungers for the thrill, and he preys on it. More and more innocent girls disappear from their play time in different parks in the area. Each and every time, the same paper is found next to their bodies. They are always found in the woods. The leaves become a part of his daily visage. The smell lingers in his nose. It has become a drug on which he wishes the highs will never end. The highs lead him to mistreat his body. He stops sleeping. He stops eating. He thinks and lives and breathes for the high, like a heroin junkie looking for a fix.

The detective becomes overwhelmed by the surge of killings that follow in the wake of the deaths of the "mirror girls," as he has come to refer to them as. As the body count rises, the reverberating ring of the child's song grows louder and louder in his head until nothing drowns it out. It drives him on two and three day stretches where he goes without sleep, without food, without mercy. He drives himself to the limit, pushing further and further to find the killer. Nothing he researches leads anywhere. Witnesses tell and retell their stories, each time a little different from the last. Evidence vanishes into thin air. Photos are deleted from the computers without a trace. His wife comments on how he's only a shell of what he used to be.

And one night, while he's in the shower, the detective closes his eyes and thinks of the child's rhyme that has been haunting his mind from the day he first saw those girls. He hasn't really thought about since then, even though he can't escape it. He's been trying to ignore it, push it to the back of his mind. Now, he thinks about it. Maybe confronting it will make it go away. And he says the words aloud.

_Here are maidens, young and fair,_

_Dancing in the summer air,_

_Like two spinning-wheels at play,_

_Pretty maidens dance away_.

He steps out of the shower, thinking of the passage. The words seem more familiar to him than he recalls. Sure, he'd been seeing it incessantly lately, between his subconscious plaguing him with it and seeing it physically at the crime scenes that he increasingly investigates. He sees images of the faces of the mirror girls, beautiful and innocent, laughing and smiling. He sees the faces of all the other girls, their china-doll faces impeccable as ever when they laugh and smile. The images are crystal clear, like someone turned on the high definition feature on a new television. And then he sees them all in a line, their backs to him, fading away. And he's suddenly even more sad than before.

The steam has dissapated now, and the mirror on the bathroom cupboard isn't fogged over with water. And the detective stares into his own reflection. His wet, raven hair is plastered to his pale face. Indigo eyes, sunken and hollow, stare back at him. And a new realization dawns on him. The images aren't images. The hollow depths that he gazes into aren't widened with shock. The mouth in the reflection isn't agape with horror.

The images are memories.

The eyes are narrowed.

And the mouth is curled in a wicked grin.

And the detective is staring into the reflection of the killer.

END.

* * *

A/N: Kind of freaky, huh? I'm sorry, Diane, I know I promised I'd lighten the mood! But I was browsing through the list of themes I have to do and this is the one that popped out with an idea. Oh, and just so you know, I totally ripped the first murder/storybook thing from a murder-mystery novel called "Merciless" by Richard Montanari (it's called "Broken Angels" in Europe, btw). Just thought I'd add a little disclaimer at the bottom. Thanks for reading, and please review!

(PS. Can you guess who the killer/detective was? I think it's pretty obvious... at least, I hope it is. So much for a wide character variety. I promise, next time will be Mimi or Jyou!)


	7. Light

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Phewwwwwie. I'm finally caught up on all of the updates after that entire week of band camp. That took waaaay too long. Anyway, thanks to **Potgenie**, **Aster Selene**, **Oo-Violetmoon-oO**, **Down Here We Belong**, **ARCtheElite**, **BenignUser**,** PrincessJaded**,** Miss-Stoneflower**, and **Cluuunie (x2)** for reviewing, and a super humongous thanks to **pyrorynox** for being review number 50! Woohoo! In celebration, this is the double update (for real this time, I promise). So enjoy (even though they're both super short...)!!

* * *

**Light**

Perhaps it was the fact that she was beatiful tonight.

That fact was undeniable. Her honey-brown hair was pulled back into an elegant ponytail, with her bangs in princess curls around her face. Her dress, the shade of a creamy vanilla and stopped right below her knees, complimented her skin. The sequins on her shoes glittered when the light hit it just right, just like her eyes.

_Yeah, sure_... Tachikawa Mimi thought bitterly. _You're so beautiful. That's why your unapproachable and no one's even asked you to a single dance._

She sat in a chair off to an isolated corner of the room, one leg crossed over the other in a comfortable resting spot. The rest of the crowd was dancing away, the lively bass of the music pumping through the loudspeakers. But she was perfectly content to stay away from all of that. The sweatiness and the heat of the dance floor was too much for her to handle. But she _would_ dance if someone had asked her to accompany her.

Which they hadn't.

She huffed again. If she had known that she would've been this bored, she would have not wasted her money on this stupid dance and just stayed at home. It wasn't like she had a reputation to keep or anything. Being the head cheerleader wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Sometimes she really hated prom.

But suddenly the lights dimmed, and the dance floor cleared out. A single person stood in the center of the floor... and he was looking directly at her.

The crowd parted as he walked slowly toward her. The music died down to a soft ballad, and still no one took to the floor. Shocked, she stayed rooted to her seat, but her legs slid so that both feet were touching the floor.

When he was standing in front of her, he looked down to meet her gaze. And the little light that remained couldn't compare to the light that was twinkling hopefully in her eyes. His own brown eyes locked in hers, and he held out a tanned hand.

"May I have this dance?"

And a genuine smile slid onto her face. Her own fair hand slipped into his, and he led her to the dance floor. And even after the other couples joined them on the floor, they were a light of their own.

END.

* * *

A/N: I know, that was really corny. But it was all I could come up with. At least there's another chapter to make up for it, right? ...right? Please review! (Psst. In case you couldn't tell, this was a Michi).


	8. Dark

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Okiedokie, here's the second half of the double update! I hope everyone enjoys it. :D

* * *

**Dark**

Are you afraid of the dark?

I'm not.

Oh, you aren't either?

That's good to hear.

Because there certainly aren't any monsters hiding under the bed.

There's no Boogieman hiding in the closet, waiting for you to close your eyes and drift blissfully unaware into oblivion.

The trees aren't going to creak in the night. The ghosts aren't going to haunt you in the night. Witches aren't going to cast their spells upon you. Ghouls won't shake the tables, goblins won't rob the jewelry from around your neck, vampires won't drink your blood, and werewolves won't call upon the pack for a hunt.

Those are all a bunch of myths.

You don't have to be scared of the darkness. Because it's just the dark, right? The sun will eventually rise.

For you, anyway.

Not for me.

I have no sun.

My life is eternal darkness. Shadows lurk in the core of my soul. I suck the light out of everything I'm near and turn it into darkness.

I _am_ the darkness.

But that is my core.

On my surface, I wear the mask. The mask of perfection, the mask of genius and fitness and precision. The mask of light.

Because evil always has a disguise, right?

The disguise that lures the goodness away from it's sheltered hole. In order for a trap to work to its potential, one must bait the trap with honey, not vinegar.

Everyone proclaims that the perfection of Ichijouji Osamu is legendary, right? He can't ever be wrong. He can't ever fail. He is every parent's perfect light.

That's exactly how it is. And I like it like that. Because no one will see it coming when the monster under the bed gets them in the night.

When the Boogieman gobbles your children whole.

When the trees moan incessantly, when the ghosts show their ghastly faces, the witches curse you to damnation, the goblins rob you blind, the ghouls rattle you to the core. When the vampires and the werewolves have had their fill...

you will know when I am near.

Because I am that monster that you fear.

I am the darkness.

I am the evil.

So...

Are you afraid of the dark?

END.

* * *

A/N: Just so I can give credit where it's due... this was inspired by ARCtheElite's final chapters to his story, When the Air is Still. And Potgenie's Hostage. And the movie "The Libertine" with Johnny Depp. I love how in the beginning, Depp's character says, "You will not like me, and I do not want you to like me;" and then in the end, he says, "Do you like me now?". So that's where the inspiration comes from.


	9. Heaven

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Hello again, everyone! Summer is almost over... only two weeks before school starts again. Where did all the time go...? I want my summer to last forever! Argh. All right, enough of my whining. Thanks to **Aster Selene, PrincessJaded, Cluuunie, ARCtheElite, Potgenie, pyrorynox, Down Here We Belong, **and **Viridian Wings** for reviewing chapters seven and eight!

* * *

**Heaven**

A wake was no place for a little boy.

Unfortunately, said little boy didn't have a choice in the matter. His father was there, and his brothers were there, too. So he had to come along. But he was rather perplexed that his mother wasn't with them. Well, normally, she stayed at home, anyway, because she was sick a lot. But Jyou hadn't seen his mother all day. In fact, now that he got to thinking about it, he hadn't seen his mother for two whole days! Jyou furled his eyebrows in thought to where his mother could have been. Then, he decided he that he would go and look for her.

The whole building was rather strange and uninviting for the little five-year-old. But he figured that his mother was worth braving his fears of what lurked in the dark. He opened the doors to one room directly adjacent to where everyone was gathered, and saw that it was full of large boxes. Maybe someone was moving, he thought. But no one was in this box room, so he shut the doors and went on. The next room was almost like a doctor's office - there was a metal table in the center, and a bunch of little trinkets were on top of the smaller table next to it. Bottles of all sorts and sizes lined the far wall, and the room was completely white. And it smelled funny. Jyou didn't think anyone in their right mind would come in this room willingly, especially not his mama. So he left this room, too.

He had nearly explored the entire building when his father came up to him in a frenzy. "Jyou, there you are! You musn't run off like that! You gave me quite a fright!"

Jyou looked up at his father with watery eyes. "I'm sorry, Papa. I didn't mean to scare you. But I was looking for Mama, 'cause I haven't seen her anywhere."

The man knelt down so that he was eye level with his son, and tears shone in his eyes. "Jyou... You aren't going to find your mother here."

Now Jyou was really confused. "How come?" he asked, in his curious voice.

"Because..." his father paused, thinking of the best way to put it. He sighed, deciding that telling him directly was the best idea. "Your mother is dead."

Jyou blinked in confusion. Dead...? Was 'dead' something really sad? He didn't like it if it was, because 'dead' was making his papa cry! "Papa, what does 'dead' mean?"

"'Dead' means that someone has gone away, and you won't ever see them again."

"Gone away? Where does someone who is dead go?"

"They go to Heaven."

"Where's Heaven at, Papa?"

"Heaven is way up in the sky."

"Can I go to Heaven, Papa? I want to see Mama."

"No, Jyou. You can't go to Heaven."

"Not even in a plane? You said it was in the sky!"

"You can't go to Heaven, Jyou. People who go to Heaven can't ever come back to Earth."

"So... Mama went to Heaven? And she can't ever come back?"

"No, son."

"But... why did Mama go to Heaven if she can't ever come back? Doesn't she love us?"

"Of course your mother loves you. She always will. But sometimes people get sick, and they go to Heaven to get better. And after they get better, they wait for us there."

"So we get to go to Heaven, too?"

"Someday. Not today."

"How come?"

"Because it's not our time."

"But we get to go. And we'll see Mama there when we go?"

"Yes, we'll see Mama there."

Jyou was even more confused now than he was before. "But you said that 'dead' means you won't ever see someone again! If Mama is in Heaven, and we get to see her someday, is she really dead?"

His father gave a shaky sigh. "I guess I should have said it differently. Dead means you won't see someone for a really long time. But you will see them again, eventually."

"Okay!" Jyou said, his confusion now gone. "I hope that Mama doesn't mind waiting for us. Because we have to go see Mama together! You and me and Shuu-nii and Shin-nii, too!" He grabbed his father's sleeve and started taking him back toward the group of people. "Right, Papa?"

His father smiled through his tears. While he was most certainly upset that his wife was dead, his son reminded him that there were still people on Earth that needed him dearly. Heaven would have to wait.

"Right, Jyou."

END.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry that Jyou seemed very OOC. But you also have to take into account that he's five years old here. A chibi-fic was on my to-do list for this story, and Jyou was the next character in line, so... yeah. Besides, haven't you ever wondered what ever happened to Mrs. Kido? They never ever mention her. At least the other parents had a little bit of air time, even a freaking cameo! Anyway... I hope you all enjoyed it, even though it was super short! Please review!


	10. Hold My Hand

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Alas, after over a month of inactivity, I have returned! I've had the worst case of writer's block... but here I am. I wanted to try a different take on Hikari and Taichi's relationship - in fanfiction, they're always portrayed as either so close that they're like perfect siblings or they're always at each other's throats. So I wanted to try and find some middle ground (even if it doesn't appear so at first).

Oh, I can't forget my awesome reviewers, can I? Many thanks to **Aster Selene, Potgenie, pyrorynox, Oo-Violetmoon-oO, **and super mega thanks to **SugarSpiral** for the five consecutive reviews! I hope everyone enjoys the chapter.

* * *

_"I'll hold your hand so that I can catch you if you fall."_

**Hold My Hand**

"Onii-chan, what the hell were you thinking?"

Yagami Taichi stood there, stunned by the words that had just come from his little sister. "Hikari, I-"

"Don't tell me you weren't thinking, because that's obvious," Hikari hissed. "Why did you go and beat that guy up?"

"He was picking on my little sister! I wasn't about to just stand there and let him get away with it!" Taichi said defensively.

Hikari gave an exasperated sigh. "Haven't you ever heard of the old saying 'sticks and stones,' Onii-chan? Him calling me names does _not_ solicit nearly killing the guy! He was sent to the hospital with a bunch of broken ribs and a bruised lung! And now you're suspended from school pending expulsion. What happens if you get expelled, huh? This is your last year, and if you have to repeat it because of misbehavior, you'll never be accepted into university! What'll you do then, Taichi?"

"You weren't there for all of it, Hikari," Taichi growled through gritted teeth. "Calling you a bitch was the least of the things he said. The things he said makes my stomach churn at the thought of them. That kid thought he ruled the school with his little gang cronies, and he'd gotten away with too much already. Let this be a lesson to him."

"It's not that simple and you know it." With that, Hikari stormed into her bedroom and grabbed her backpack from under the bed. She grabbed some clothes and stuffed them into the bag, along with a couple of miscellaneous other things. Taichi leaned against her the doorframe to her room with his arms crossed.

"Where are you going?" he asked simply, albeit with a little tension in his voice.

"Does it matter?" she replied. When Taichi said nothing, she continued, "If it makes you feel better, I'm going to Miyako's place. I've already told Okaa-san that I'm staying at her place tonight." Hikari pursed her lips tightly, making it clear that she wanted to speak no more of it. She glanced around the room, making sure she didn't forget anything, before she shouldered her bag. She pushed her way past Taichi, and stopped in the foyer only to put her shoes and coat on.

"You know, I was only trying to protect you, Hikari-chan," Taichi said softly.

Hikari wheeled around and gave him a hard stare. "I'm fourteen now, Taichi-nii, not four. I don't need you to protect me anymore." She turned her back on him and left the apartment, slamming the door behind her. The words stung Taichi more than she knew, and he sank to the floor there. He buried his face in his hands, the words _I don't need you_ ringing in his ears.

* * *

"You really told him you didn't need him anymore, Hikari-chan?" Miyako asked incredulously.

"I didn't say that! I said I didn't need him protecting me anymore," Hikari retorted. "And anyway, it's true. He keeps treating me like I'm so fragile, that the least little thing could happen and I'll break or something. I know he only means well, but he gets so overbearing sometimes, and I don't want him getting into that much trouble on my account."

Miyako was quiet for a while. Hikari didn't think anything of it and continued eating her popcorn, until Miyako finally said, "He didn't tell you what that kid was saying about you, did he?"

Hikari blinked. "Not really. He said something about the guy calling me a bitch, but that's it. Name calling doesn't bother me, honest. I don't know why he gets so worked up about little details like that..."

Miyako's face was grave. "Hikari-chan, the guy Taichi-san beat up wasn't just calling you names."

"Eh?"

"I heard from Izumi-senpai, who helped Yamato-san break it up, but he was seriously threatening you. Something about "once he got his way with you" and more nasty stuff like that. And he was saying all of this standing right next to Taichi-san! And he said that he'd let his little buddies have a piece of you when he was done. I guess they were plotting to nab you on the way home, and your brother beat the crap out of him to stop them. That gang at the senior high school is terrifying..." Miyako shuddered before continuing. "Taichi-san was the first one in a long time to stand up to them."

Hikari stared wide-eyed at her friend. She absent-mindedly put a hand to her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. "What have I done...?" she breathed.

"No doubt that Taichi-san didn't say anything to you because he didn't want you feeling guilty. Even when you were flaming mad at him, he was still protecting you," Miyako said quietly. "I think we should go back to your house so you can apologize, Hikari-chan. You know he didn't do this to make you hate him."

Hikari nodded, and they both geared up for a long walk in the cold November air. The wind that whipped at them was the only noise between the two of them the whole way to Hikari's apartment complex. They didn't even say anything until they got into the elevator, when Miyako put a hand on Hikari's shoulder and said, "He'll forgive you, Hikari-chan. He can't blame you for what you didn't know."

"Yeah," Hikari muttered back, "but that doesn't make me feel any less like a horrible person right now." She dug her key out of her pocket to get into her apartment, but when the elevator doors opened, she was met by a crowd of people, which was odd because only three other families lived on this floor. Her suspicions grew even more when she realized that they were all crowded around her door, which was wide open. "What the... what's going on?"

"Hikari-chan!" a familiar voice cried over the murmur of the crowd. Daisuke pushed his way to them, his face ashen.

"Daisuke, what's everyone doing here?" Miyako demanded, her gentle demeanor lost at the arrival of the "pig-headed leader," as she called him. Daisuke glanced at Hikari and then shook his head.

"We should get out of here. My apartment is only just upstairs, and I can explain everything without the peanut gallery over here eavesdropping," he insisted, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the crowd.

Hikari shook her head. "No! I want to know what's going on in my apartment that's drawn the entire city of Odaiba to my doorstep!" Daisuke put his hands on her shoulders and shook his head again.

"It's bad, Hikari-chan. You don't want to see--"

"Why is everyone so insistent on protecting me?" she interrupted. "If something's happened, I have a right to know! Please!" Her pleading look finally won Daisuke over, and he moved aside. Hikari pushed her way through the crowd, with Miyako and Daisuke on her six*, until she was standing in the doorway to her apartment. She had to stifle a scream upon sight of the place. The living room was completely trashed - the low table was overturned, the sofa looked like it had been slashed with an exacto knife, and the television had a footprint through the screen. The kitchen fared no better. All of the dishes in the cupboard lay on the floor in pieces, the food in the refrigerator had been dumped either in the sink or on the floor, and the water was still running from the tap. Her parents' bedroom had been ransacked, as had her brother's. However, her room had been mostly untouched, except for the word "punishment" written in red paint across the wall.

Worst of all, Taichi was nowhere to be found.

* * *

_"Onii-chan, where are we going?"_

_"You'll see. Just keep your eyes closed and hold my hand, okay?"_

_"Okay!"_

_"We're almost there... almost... aaaaand open your eyes!"_

_"...a tree?"_

_"Not just any tree. This is the most ginormous tree in all of the park! And we're going to climb it, all the way to the tippity-top!"_

_"Ehhhh!? Onii-chan, you know I'm afraid of heights!"_

_"Don't worry, Hikari-chan! I'll hold your hand so I can catch you if you fall. Okay?"_

_"O-okay."_

* * *

"Hikari? ...it's time to go, dear. Come on."

The coaxing of Yagami Yuuko was hardly enough to get Hikari to move, but eventually, the cold air won over her will to stay. Ever since her brother was found a week ago, she'd been coming to the tree that she and Taichi had claimed theirs all of those years ago (they'd even carved their names in sloppy hiragana at the bottom. Well, Taichi did the carving - she didn't know how to write then). Every day, she climbed the bare boughs to sit on the lowest one that could support her weight and just think about a lot of things. She wasn't afraid to climb to the top anymore, but there was something sacriligious about going any higher without her brother. Her mother had accompanied her to the park because she refused to let Hikari go anywhere by herself after what happened to Taichi.

"Are you going to see Taichi today?" her mother asked. Hikari winced inwardly. She hadn't gone to see him at the hospital since he was admitted. The police had found him in an alley the evening after he'd gone missing from the Yagami household, beaten severely and left for dead. Luckily, he was still alive when they found him, even though he wasn't conscious. It was suspected and generally accepted that the gang that Taichi had fought retaliated tenfold against him for beating up their leader and making them look bad. Nevertheless, they never did mention Hikari's name after that.

Still, Hikari had refused to go see her brother in the hospital for a couple of reasons. For one thing, she felt like it was her fault he was there in the first place. If only she had stayed there with him instead of staying the night at Miyako's, maybe they wouldn't have broken in. Or if she never existed, they wouldn't have said those things about her and Taichi wouldn't have beat the kid up. For another, her angry tirade ate at her from the inside still. She had said things that she regretted, and now... well, she didn't even want to think about it. But she couldn't run away forever, and so she turned to her mother.

"Okaa-san, do you think Onii-chan hates me for not coming to see him?"

Yuuko stared at Hikari like she'd spontaneously grown another head. "Of course he doesn't hate you, Hikari! How could you even think such a thing? I'm sure he understands you needing time to collect yourself." The elder woman looked like she wanted to add, "besides, you didn't need to see him in that state anyway - you'd have nightmares forever," but she didn't. Hikari nodded.

"I think... I think I'll go and see him, then. I owe him that much..." she added quietly, not loud enough for her mother to hear.

The journey to the hospital was a relatively short one, since the Odaiba Park was closer to the building than their apartment complex. As soon as they stepped in the doors, Hikari was overwhelmed by the whiteness and the scent of antiseptic. There were nurses fretting to and fro, filling out charts and following closely behind doctors. Since Hikari hadn't been here when Taichi was admitted, she followed her mother to her brother's room. Surprisingly, when they reached the room, Taichi wasn't there. A nurse passing by happened to see them, and tapped Yuuko on the shoulder.

"Ah, Yagami-san! I tried to phone you earlier, but you were out. Taichi-kun's been moved from the ICU. Let me show you where he is," the nurse said with a friendly smile. Hikari followed silently as they passed through a series of doors, untilk they came to a room where there were three beds and only one was occupied. Hikari thought that if it weren't for the machines and their steady hums, Taichi could pass off as being in a comfortable sleep.

"Let me know if you need anything," the nurse assured, before walking away.

Hikari hesitated, but with a gentle nudge from her mother, she slowly made her way across the room and settled down in the chair next to Taichi's bedside. Even if her brother looked asleep, she knew that he was not going to wake up anytime soon. After all, she was the one who said that things aren't that simple. But it didn't keep a new wave of guilt from washing over her, and suddenly she was unsure of what she should say. Not that she was sure of what she should say to begin with, but still. She sat there for a while with her hands folded in her lap, silent. She thought back to the tree that she frequented, and it made her think of something. With extreme care, she took Taichi's hand in her own.

"Hey, Onii-chan," Hikari started out softly. "I think I owe you an apology, for a lot of things. For saying some really stupid stuff when I was oblivious to what was going on. For getting you into this mess in the first place." Tears stung the back of her eyes and slipped down her face. "For taking you for granted. I'm so stupid for thinking that you were being overprotective just for the sake of being overprotective... and I owe you a thank you too, Onii-chan. Miyako told me why you fought that guy, why you _really_ fought that guy... Do you remember the tree we used to climb when we were little? Remember how you always held my hand so that I wouldn't fall?" Hikari sniffed a little, trying unsuccessfully to dam her tears. "I think that it's time for _me_ to hold _your _hand. I know I'm too late to catch you when you fall, but... but I'll hold it now, to help you back to your feet, no matter how long it takes. God, Taichi, I'm so sorry!" And when Hikari couldn't hold back her sobs anymore, she put her forehead down on the mattress to hide her sorrow, but she never go of Taichi's hand.

END.

* * *

A/N: So, does Taichi ever wake up? I don't know. I'll leave that up to you to decide. Hooray for ambigous endings? But I tried to make this chapter longer to make up for the wait, so this ended up over 2,000 words long. I hope you liked it, even though it's really weird and depressing. Please review and give me your comments, good or bad (but no flames, please!)

*on her six - directly behind someone.


	11. Hero

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Crai crai, yeah, whatever. We've been through this before.

A/N: This is a rather short one, but I got the idea when my little brother and I were playing Wild ARMS 4. If you've ever played that game, you'll see why. :) I'm feeling lazy today, so thanks for all 16 reviews from last time! You all have no idea how much you made my day.

* * *

**Hero**

"Taiiiiichiiiiiii, I'm going to kill you!" Yamato panted as they ran. The two older Chosen were currently playing the role of decoys to a particularly numerous swarm of angry Flymon while the rest of the younger Chosen evacuated the Poromon who were being held hostage by said angry Flymon. Taichi had ordered Agumon to use Baby Flame on the leader of the swarm to attract its attention, fully intending to engage the agressive Digimon in a two-on-one battle. As it turned out, the Flymon had other plans. When Taichi and Yamato fled, Agumon and Gabumon stayed behind to help the others.

"Well, did you have a better idea?" Taichi panted.

"I think _anything_ is better than pissing them off! What'd you expect would happen when you had Agumon torch them?" Yamato jumped over a tree stump and almost fell flat on his face, recovering only just in time to correct himself.

"I dunno, but we had to get them away from the Poromon!"

"But you said that we were going to fight them! What happened to that idea!? I liked that idea! That idea didn't involve lots of running!"

Taichi scoffed. "It wasn't like I _wanted_ to fight a hundred of them!"

"We have two Digimon perfectly capable of evolving to Ultimate! Why didn't we!?"

"Do you see them running alongside us!? Besides, I don't think we'd have the energy or the time to evolve them all the way up to Ultimate, anyway!"

Eventually, Taichi and Yamato were able to duck into a thicket of bushes and hide while the Flymon passed overhead. It took them quite a while to catch their breaths. Finally, Yamato turned to Taichi and, still breathless, said, "Whatever happened to your theory of never turning your back on an enemy, Mr. Hero?"

Taichi only smirked, and replied, "Discretion is the better part of valor!"

END.

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A/N: So this one was more like a drabble than recent chapters. I only just realized that this is the third chapter in a row with "h" as the first letter in the title. Please review!


	12. Under The Rain

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Finally, I'm incorporating the two characters I always have the hardest time writing - Iori and Miyako. They are always so abused - among Jun and Mimi, they're always portrayed as way too strict and extreme, respectively. I think Iori might be a tad OOC, but that's just because I fail. I hope you enjoy! Oh, and thanks to **Aster Selene, Potgenie, pyrorynox, **and **ThatsWhatSheSaid07** for reviewing last time!

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_Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain._

**Under the Rain**

I was walking home with an armload of groceries, taking a shortcut through the park, when I saw her sitting there on the bench. She was staring at a manila envelope, as if she were daring it to leap from between her fingers and dance on the pavement. Her green uniform was severly wrinkled, and her hair was a mess - from where I could see, anyway. And if I could see it from twenty meters away, then it must have been pretty bad. A quick glance at my watch told me it was a quarter till six, and my mother would scold me for not having the groceries in time for her to make a decent meal, but... she could wait.

She didn't notice me approaching, so when I sat on the seat beside her, she jumped.

"Iori?" Her eyes looked swollen, as if she'd been crying a lot.

I gave her a small smile, one that said 'no matter how many times you say you're okay, I know you're not, so let's cut to the chase.' "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she murmured. Apparantly, my look didn't achieve the desired effect.

"Come on, Miyako-san, I'm fourteen, not four."

Her gaze returned to the manila envelope, and her lip trembled as if she were going to cry again. "This is my application to the University of Tokyo."

I had the feeling I knew where this was going. "You weren't accepted?"

She shook her head. "No, I was accepted." My brow furrowed in confusion. If she was accepted, then why was she so upset...? She seemed to sense my confusion, and she continued. "My application for admission was accepted... but my application for scholarship funds was denied. Apparantly, my marks weren't high enough."

A low rumble of thunder echoed across the busy city, and in an instant, the clouds were pouring down on us. Of course, I had left my umbrella at home knowing my hands would be too full to carry one, and I had anticipated making it home before the showers came. So we sat there in silence for a few minutes, getting soaked. After a while, Miyako sniffled.

"With Mantarou, Chizuru and Momoe already in college, my parents can't afford to pay my entire tuition. They all got scholarships to help the burden, and they all expected me to do the same. What am I to do...? How am I going to explain to them I can't go to college because I'm too stupid? I'm doomed to work in the shop forever!"

As mean as it sounds, my patience with Miyako was wearing thin. "Come on, Miyako. Aren't you being a little over-dramatic?" She sent me a glare that could send shivers down the spine of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but I was used to this by now. "There _are_ other options. Like... financial aid grants, and work-study grants. Or, you can go to a community college and then move up to university once you've saved some money. Just because your scholarship wasn't accepted doesn't mean it's the end of the line; it just means that you have to take a little detour. Detours happen, and you just have to stick to your guns and tough it out."

She stared up at me incredulously. And then after a few stifiling moments, she smiled and wiped at her eyes (as futile as it was, with every part of her being drenched). "You know what? You're right. You're absolutely right. I should get off of my whiny butt and go find some other way to get to college." She leaned over and gave me a sideways hug. "Thanks a bundle, Iori. I really owe you one."

"How about buying some dry groceries?"

We both laughed for a while, and then we sat there and talked about other things. It was almost dark before we started heading for the apartment building we both lived in. It had stopped raining long before we finally made it indoors, but honestly. Who needs an umbrella when it's just as well to dance in the rain?

END.

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A/N: Is it just me, or are these chapters getting considerably shorter as I go on? Oh well. Please review!


	13. Teamwork

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon.

**A/N: **This was originally a separate oneshot I'd started a looooooong time ago, and I just salvaged it to make it a chapter of my one-hundred themes. Heh heh. I found it in the dark, dusty recesses of my old flashdrive. I know I'd told someone that it was supposed to be a Sora-centric chapter next, but this was much more convenient. Sora's in next time, I promise! Please keep in mind that this was originally a (coughcoughcornycoughcough) Daikari fic, and I changed the end to make it more teamwork-esque.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time! And please enjoy while I finish my term paper for English. D:

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**Teamwork**

"Happy Birthday, Kari-chan!"

Yagami Hikari looked up from her locker to see her boyfriend, Motomiya Daisuke trying to act cool by leaning on someone else's locker. From the school bag on his shoulder, Chibimon popped his head out and flashed a toothy grin.

"I dunno what a birthday is, but I hope it's good!"

Hikari couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you, the both of you." She reached up to kiss Daisuke. He returned it happily, and they both giggled when Chibimon made a gagging noise and ducked back into the bag to take cover. "So, Dai-kun, whad'ya get me?"

"Such a tease," Daisuke chuckled. "I know you'd be happy, even if I didn't get you a present."

Hikari smiled. "You're right."

"But I got you one anyway." Daisuke reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small box. "Hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will," Hikari sighed, taking the box. She pulled the lid off, revealing another box. This lid was on a hinge, so it had to be a jewelry box. _I hope he didn't spend too much..._ Hikari suddenly found herself thinking. She flipped the box open, revealing a ring. It was rather plain; a silver band with an emerald - her birthstone - right in the middle. Still, Hikari gasped, "It's beautiful!"

"Look inside the band," Daisuke instructed, sounding as impatient as a five-year-old on Christmas. Hikari did as she was told, and found the characters for 'zutto' engraved on the band.

"'Forever'?" she questioned.

A wild grin grew from ear to ear. "How long I'll love you."

Hikari felt a blush spread rapidly over her face. "Oh, Dai-kun..." Sure, Daisuke could be pig-headed sometimes, but it was the little moments like these that reminded her why she loved the boy. "I don't know what to say. I love it, but you really shouldn't have!"

"Shouldn't I?" He wrapped his arms around her. "Anything for you," he whispered in her ear.

"Thank you, Dai-kun."

"Ahem," a voice came from behind them. They both turned around to see a persnickity old teacher with her arms crossed and tapping her foot. "I do believe you both are in violation of the school's public display of affection policy," her shrill voice rang.

"Ah, well, we were just bidding each other a good day, madam. 'Parting is such sweet sorrow!'" Daisuke replied smoothly. Hikari sniggered. So Daisuke had memorized Romeo and Juliet. Who knew? The teacher wasn't impressed.

"All right, all right, I'll let it slide this time, but only because Yagami is such a good student. You had better not toe the line, though, Motomiya," her nose went up in the air as she spun on her heel and marched away.

"Such a bat. If her nose goes any higher, she'll get a nosebleed," Daisuke chortled. The warning bell echoed through the halls. "Well, I suppose we'd better get to class, huh?"

With a sigh, Hikari nodded her head. "Too bad we're not in the same class again this year."

"Yeah, they found out we were dating and put us in different classes," Daisuke joked sarcastically.

After a final kiss, they headed in different directions. Hikari slipped the ring onto her finger and put the box into her school bag. She had to admit it - even though it wasn't the fanciest ring she'd ever seen, it was still very precious. After all, it really is the thought that counts. The doorway to room 7-E was right around the corner from her locker, so she didn't have to worry about rushing to be on time. She _did_ worry, however, if Daisuke made it on time. His classroom was 7-R, clear on the other side of the school. She smiled to herself as she sat down at the thought of Daisuke zipping through the halls to make it on time. Since they had started junior high, he had really matured, even if his sense of time was still off.

"Good morning, Hikari-chan!"

_I guess I'm pretty popular today,_ Hikari thought. "Good morning, Takeru-kun," she replied.

The blonde boy smiled kindly. "How does it feel to be a teenager, finally?"

Hikari put on a thoughtful look. "Not too much different, actually. You would think turning 14 would come with a huge change, y'know?" Despite what people might have thought, it wasn't uncomfortable at all, talking to Takeru, even though it was common knowledge that he loved her, too. He had said it when he confessed to her two years ago, that his biggest fear was that wouldn't still be friends afterwards. So Hikari told him her honest feelings, and he wished her all the happiness and was relieved that they could still be as close of friends as before.

"Well, happy birthday, anyway."

"Well, thank you very much."

It was that moment that the teacher walked in and called the class to order. Takeru headed back to his own desk and Hikari pulled out her school books before standing with the rest of the class.

"Bow," said the class president. The teacher returned the bow, and everyone sat. The day began with Japanese literature, Hikari's least favorite subject. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

During lunch, Hikari sat on the roof of the school with Miyako, Iori, Takeru, and of course, Daisuke. They had all brought her some kind of goodie for her birthday - Iori's mother made her famous brownies, Miyako brought a king size candy bar from her family's convenience store, and Takeru made a cupcake. Daisuke grinned sheepishly and held up a bag of ashes, which he explained were the remnants of the cookies he had tried to make. They all laughed and joked about Daisuke's poor cooking skills.

"I'm just glad you're still in one piece. At least you didn't burn your apartment building to the ground!" Hikari giggled.

"Hey! I'm not _that_ bad of cook. I can make some killer ramen!" Daisuke protested.

"Yeah, 'killer' being the key word in that sentence. It'd surely kill everyone who ate it," Miyako replied pointedly, waving her chopsticks at him in a teasing way.

Before it could turn into a debate that led into a food fight, Iori intervened by changing the subject. "So, Daisuke-san, doesn't your soccer league have its championship game today?"

Daisuke face lit up. "Oh yeah! That reminds me." He started rummaging through his pockets while the others looked on in confusion. "Aha!" he cried in victory, and he pulled out four slips of paper. "Tickets," he said with a grin. "Since it's the championships, it's invitation-only. I'll have to thank Taichi-san later - he was the one who got them." He held them out so they each could take one.

"Cool!" Takeru laughed. "What time is the game?"

"Warm-up starts at five. I'm not sure what time the actual game starts, though."

"Okay, then," Miyako stated in her authoritative voice. "We'll meet at the field at 4:30 and then 'Operation: COTAD' will commence!" An akward silence followed.

"COTAD?" Iori questioned slowly.

"Cheer On Taichi and Daisuke! Duh!"

* * *

"The championship game between the Odaiba and Heiwa junior soccer league teams is about to begin!" The announcer's voice roared through the speakers over the cheering crowd. "Starting for Odaiba is Team Captain Yagami Taichi as Striker, Center Forward Kawaguchi Jirou, Winger Oshiro Akira, Attacking Midfielder Tsukuda Ryouichi, Defensive Midfielder Ikuechi Hiroki, Center Midfielder Motomiya Daisuke, Wingback Ueda Kenji, Fullback Kobayashi Noburu, Sweeper Fukui Arata, Centerback Himura Yoshiro, and Goalkeeper Ito Hajime." Cheers erupted for the home team as they poured out onto the field.

"Go, onii-chan! Go, Dai-kun!" Hikari yelled.

"Yeah, go, guys, go!" Miyako called.

"Let's win!" Takeru cheered.

"You can do it!" Iori shouted.

Odaiba's players blew by in a rush of red and white. They rushed onto the field and briefly acknowleged their crowd before proceeding with the warm-up as the announcer began reading off Heiwa's players.

"Annnnnnd starting for Heiwa is the infamous Team Captain Goto Kazuki as Center Midfielder, Center Forward Juumonji Kaito, Winger Oda Katashi, Attacking Midfielder Tsuji Taro, Defensive Midfielder Nakado Hibiki, Striker Asahina Shouta, Wingback Kago Yuuta, Fullback Hasegawa Minoru, Sweeper Yasuda Isamu, Centerback Takeda Hotaka, and Goalkeeper Sugiyama Katsurou. Odaiba had best be on its toes - this is Heiwa's fifth year defending the title as Regional Champion!" Heiwa's team joined the sea of red and white, their black and yellow uniforms providing a sufficiently ominous tension on the field. The warm-up lasted about ten minutes, both teams stretching and practicing different strategies, before the referee blew the whistle.

"Captains, to the center!" The referee commanded. Taichi and the other captain, Goto Kazuki, met at the center of the field. Goto was a massive kid; broad shouldered, muscular and standing at at least 180 centimeters. He must have been the power house of their team, because none of the other players came even close to matching him in size. "Alright, boys, I want a clean game. Shake on it," the referee said. Taichi, being an honorable sport, held out his hand first.

"May the best team win," he offered honestly.

Goto scowled, before swallowing Taichi's hand in his own huge grip. "Don't worry - we will." Their eyes met, and if any of the bystanders were close enough they could have seen the electricity that passed through each other's eyes, each determined to assure victory to their team. The shake broke, and they both returned to their sides of the field. Taichi called his team in for a quick huddle.

"Okay, guys, this is it. This is the moment we've worked hard for. Just be careful out there - Heiwa is notorious for playing dirty, especially that Goto kid and his Sweeper Yasuda. Just play as we practiced and we're sure to win!" His pep talk was brief but to the point. After the break, they assumed positions and the referee held the ball high over his head. At the sound of the whistle, he dropped it and backed up quickly and the game began.

"And it's Odaiba with the ball to start off - I've never seen a center midfielder so fast in my life! Motomiya passes to Kobayashi, who starts running down the field... Oh! Stolen by Nakado, who quickly passes to Tsuji - these guys are pretty fast, too. No wonder they've been champions for four years running. Nakado passes to Asahina for the kick... Ooh, blocked by Ito's face! That had to hurt!" Odaiba's goalkeeper had had to dive to keep the ball from going through - in the process, putting his face in the line of fire.

"Hajime-san! Are you alright?" Tsukuda called, being the closest Odaiba player.

"Ahh, I'm fine. I've had worse." Waving an arm to the referee signaling he was alright, he tossed the ball out to Tsukuda, who deftly caught it with his ankle and dodged around three of Heiwa's players and went streaking down the field (in the speed sense of the word).

"And Odaiba's back in the game with a successful block and recovery of the ball! Tsukuda is handling that ball like it's a hostage. He's not letting Heiwa get the slightest chance. He's made it all the way down the field - unbelievable! Yagami is set up for the strike... Tsukuda passes, and it's Yagami with the ball. He goes in for the score... He's kicking - oh, what an awesome fake-out! And Yagami scores!"

The Odaiba side of the field erupted in cheers for the first score of the game.

"Yeah, onii-chan! That's the way!" Hikari called out. Taichi flashed a peace sign before regrouping his players as Heiwa took possession. The game continued on in a back-and-forth battle of strategy and endurance, and by the time the whistle blew for half-time, Odaiba was up by just one point. Goto shot a menacing glare in Taichi's direction before pulling his players off the field for a half-time regroup and rest, and Taichi did the same.

"Okay, boys," Goto growled. "We're down one and only half the game is left. If you've any morals left, you'd better pitch 'em here and now. We didn't come this far to lose." He gave a half nod toward Sugiyama. "You'll be shadowing Yagami when he sets up the strike. Aim for the ankles if you can; if not, just go for a good kick in the shin. Yasuda and Hasegawa, keep an eye on that Motomiya kid. Make sure he doesn't get in the way. The rest of you know what to do." Heiwa's team nodded, half in understanding and half in fear that Goto'd crush them into a pulp if they said anything otherwise.

Meanwhile, on Taichi's side of the field, he was giving warnings. "I said it before - Heiwa usually plays dirty. Since they haven't pulled anything yet, I'm willing to bet anything that they're planning something now. Be on your guard, and we'll do everything we can to throw them off. Hajime-san, you'll be switching with Jirou-san so that we can have a little more offense out on the field. Daisuke, let's throw 'em for a loop, shall we?"

Daisuke grinned from ear to ear. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Then you'll be switching with me. Hiroki-san, Ryouichi-san, try and stay as far away from Goto as possible. You're our fastest runners and he'll probably try and pull a fast one on you guys." Taichi looked like he was going to say more, but the whistle blew for the teams to return to the field, so he had to cut it down to a simple, "The light's at the end of the tunnel, guys! Let's do it!"

Red and white and black and yellow clashed on the sea of green as the ball was tossed. It was obvious that Heiwa was a little thrown off by Odaiba's player-switching tactic, but they quickly caught on and adjusted accordingly.

"And we're back from the half-time break with a bit of a switch-up! It's Oshiro with the ball, and he starts down the field. Goto is approaching on his right flank, and Oshiro passes to Ikuechi. Ikuechi is pretty speedy for a boy his size; I guess good things do come in small packages! Oh, he's passed it, as well, to Yagami this time, who backtracks a little into enemy territory to get Kago off his heel. Oh, man, this is not a pretty situation - he's surrounded on all sides! What'll he do?"

The crowd waited with baited breath as they saw the circle that had formed around Taichi draw inward. Taichi acted fast - he kicked it straight up and used his head to pass it to Tsukuda. However, he wasn't fast enough to dodge most of Heiwa's team as they dogpiled him. The shrill cry of the foul whistle blew as the referees hurried in to pull them all off of Taichi. Hikari's hands flew up to her mouth in shock, Miyako and Iori stared, and Takeru growled in anger.

"That was completely unnecessary! They all had plenty of time to stop, or at least slow down!" he yelled in outrage.

On the field, Taichi was all right, for the most part. He had ducked just in time to save his head from being knocked around, but he had rolled on his ankle and fell on top of it.

"Can you stand on it, son?" one of the referees asked.

"I dunno. I can try..." Taichi replied. Daisuke and Hiroki both lent arms to help him get on his feet, but as soon as they let go to try and let him support himself, he went down with a cry of pain. "Aaaaarrgh!"

"I'll take that as a no. You two, help him over to the bench," the second referee gestured at Daisuke and Hiroki. They each took one of his arms over their shoulders and helped him hobble to the bench to sit, where the field medic could fix it up enough to walk on.

"It's just a sprain, no worries," the medic had said after a quick check. He must've seen a lot of injuries to be able to diagnose them so fast.

"Daisuke, I won't be able to make calls in this position," Taichi said. "I'll leave it up to you."

Daisuke nodded. "You can count on me, Taichi-sempai!"

"This has got to be bad news for Odaiba. Looks like their captain is down for the count. Will they be able to compensate?" the announcer was beginning to get very annoying. Daisuke called in Odaiba's team for a huddle, and described his battle plan.

"Okay, guys, here's the plan: Whoever gets the ball will volley back and forth with whoever is closest, bringing it closer to the goal. Whatever you do, don't hold on to the ball for too long, or else they'll do the same thing as before. I'll stay as striker and set up the shot. Is that alright with everyone?"

"Yeah!"

"Sounds like a good idea to me!"

"Let's do this!"

They resumed their positions, and after the foul shot was taken, they kept going. "Oh, man, watching this is making me dizzy! It's like a game of ping-pong down there!" the annoucer cried. "Ikuechi to Tsukuda and back again to Ueda to Fukui to Tsukuda to Kobayashi to Oshiro to Ito to Ueda... I can't keep up! It looks like a defense strategy to keep from losing any more players the same way twice!" The plan was working, too - Heiwa didn't know who to go after because they were passing so quickly and without a particular order. Then Goto figured out the plan.

"Go for the striker!" he hollered just loud enough for the closest Heiwa person could hear and pass it on without it being noticed.

"And it's back to Kobayashi with the ball, and he passes to Ito, and he sends it to Motomiya for the strike... Sugiyama does NOT look very happy about this. He's going out of the goal box to meet and try and prevent the strike! And not only that, Yasuda is coming full force from behind! Watch out!"

But Daisuke never missed a beat. At the last minute, he feined to the left and kicked the ball out of either Heiwa players' reach and into the control of Ikuechi, who put the ball in for the score right at the buzzer.

After the initial disbelief wore off, the Odaiba players all started screaming and laughing and jumping and crying, leaving a furious Goto to deal with his "useless" team. When Hikari asked him later how he managed to avoid the two menacing players, Daisuke merely laughed and said,

"A little faith, trust and--"

"Don't you even say 'pixie dust.'"

"--_teamwork_, and anything is possible!"

END.

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A/N: Okay, so the end was EXTREMELY hastily slapped onto the fic, and I haven't even looked at the rest in months. So if you didn't like this chapter, please feel free to critique it to your hearts content. I'm not happy with this chapter at all.


	14. Magic

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: So finally an update. It took me long enough. And again, no Sora. She's really hard to write! Eek. Oh well, I'll figure out something. Until then, you'll just have to do with this chapter. It was really fun to write, albeit a little bit difficult because of the meter. Meh heh heh. Have fun reading! Even if it is really short...

Oh, and super mega thanks to everyone for their reviews, because I just realized that I have _more than 100 reviews_! You all are awesome, and I couldn't do it without'cha.

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**Magic**

Whoever said magic isn't real has told nothing short of a lie. I should know, and I'll tell you why. It cannot be learned or wanted or sought; quite frankly, it is merely a thought. The thought does not have to do with magic at all. In fact, it comes from a wish, no matter how big or how small. A wish to help ones friends in need, or a wish for a gain stemmed from greed. How can it be so simple and plain? Well, my name is Wizarmon - let me explain.

The wish is a thought that comes from the heart. Therefore, it is still a thought, and that is the start. The wish then becomes a "real" thought the mind can read, and then it gets the attention it so desperately needs. The thought becomes a spell that the thinker can say, and voila! You have magic where the wish is portrayed.

Are you with me so far? Did everything click? Hmm... I may have gone on a little too quick. I shall have to slow down my pace, and show you a scene where some magic takes place.

Imagine a monster - let's say a giant squid - picking on a couple of poor, helpless kids. They're quite clearly in danger, stuck in a rut, one kid's stunned speechless and the other's eyes are clenched shut. I just happen upon this horrible sight, and my heart cries out "I have to fight!" And so I think with all of my might, _This creature must fall!_ and out comes the spell, "Electro Squall!" The children are safe to live another day, because of the magic that blew the monster away!

Ehh? What's this? You call me a fool? Why, Tailmon, must you be so cruel? I'm only making fun of myself, keep in mind! Sheesh, good company these days is so hard to find. You have to go and spoil the fun, when my tales are second to none! These children asked for a bedtime routine, and to give them one I was only too keen. What? You think I'm corrupting their heads? Nonsense, dear cat, only helping them to bed! You say they'll have nightmares if I'm not wary? But this telling of magic was quite far from scary!

...

Okay, okay! I get it, I'll desist! No more nighttime adventures, since you insist! I'll take my departure just as soon as can be! Just please, Tailmon... don't kill me.

END.

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A/N: So here ends my epic fail. I was thinking something along the lines of Wizarmon telling a bedtime story to Hikari and Takeru, and Tailmon reprimanding him, but the Adventure Wizarmon was so emo, so I decided to go more along the lines of the Dr. Seuss Wizarmon from Frontier. Yeah, it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. Oh well. I hope you all liked it enough to review!


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